Kerala fourth in Internet readiness among Indian States

New Delhi: Kerala has emerged as the fourth top-ranked State in the country in terms of overall Internet readiness, according to a report titled ‘Index of Internet Readiness of Indian States’, published by the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) and Nielsen. The top three States are Delhi, Karnataka and Maharashtra. However, in terms of e-Participation and Core Internet Index, Kerala is ranked first.

Releasing the report, Aruna Sundararajan, Secretary, Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeiTy), Government of India said, “We are hopeful that India will leapfrog from the present 155th position to world’s top 5th in connectivity, within the next 5-6 years. India today is one of the most rapidly digitising economies in the world with the telecom industry leading the change.”

Internet readiness index is a composite benchmark of four components – e-Infrastructure index, e-Participation index, IT-Environment and government e-Services index. All four components have equal weightage in this model. Separately, a fifth Index (named the Core Internet Index) has been created this year, consisting of select variables already used in constructing the above indices. The purpose of the index is to give a sharper perspective for digital industries looking to expand their business in the Indian States.

One of the key highlights of this year’s report is measuring the digital start-up ecosystem of states. The report finds that Karnataka, Delhi and Maharashtra are the top three states with the highest number of digital start-ups. The study says that of the total 242 start-up incubators in the country, about 83% of these incubators are in 10 States – Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Kerala, Telangana, Gujarat, West Bengal, Delhi and Rajasthan.

The report highlights the performance of the states regarding different measures of Internet readiness index. Given the rapid advancement in e-services and e-commerce, it is essential to understand the strengths and weaknesses of the states. While this would help the business and governments to leverage the strength, policy measures can also be taken where improvements are required.

Established in 2004, IAMAI is the only professional industry body representing the digital and mobile content industry in India.